Lisa Kudrow Net Worth

How much is Lisa Kudrow Worth?

Lisa Kudrow net worth and salary: Lisa Kudrow is an American actress who has a net worth of $90 million. And with that kind of money, Lisa Kudrow can rescue every single smelly cat in the world. Known best for her role as Phoebe Buffay on the decade-long sitcom Friends, Kudrow was born in Encino, California on July 30, 1963. The youngest of three children in an upper middle class Jewish family, Kudrow initially believed she might follow in the footsteps of her father, a doctor and headache specialist. She used her biology degree earned from Vassar College to work for eight years in her father's practice before she got her acting break. Those initial acting stints centered on comedy. Kudrow belonged to improv and comedy troupes before landing small roles on Cheers and Bob Newhart sitcoms. Her portrayal of Ursula Buffay, an oddball waitress on the 1990s NBC sitcom Mad About You led to her eventual role as the naïve, aloof massage therapist Phoebe Buffay. Although Ursula and Phoebe were cast in two different NBC shows, they were twins in both storylines.

Quirky Phoebe Buffay endeared many Friends fans because she was a host of personal contradictions. For example, she was a vegetarian who ate meat while she was pregnant and an animal rights activist who once wore a fur that she inherited. The character was well-known for breaking into bizarre, folksy songs while playing an acoustic guitar. In 1998, Kudrow's portrayal of this character helped her become the first Friends cast member to win an Emmy for a supporting role. She and co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox set a world record when they became the highest paid television actresses ever up to that point, each earning $1 million an episode.

Lisa has been married to Michel Stern since 1995. They have one child together.

Lisa Kudrow "Friends" Salary History: For the first season of Friends, each cast member earned $22,500 per episode. That works out to $540,000 for the first season. Their salaries were boosted to $40,000 per episode in the second season. That works out to $960,000 for the second season. Ahead of the third season when their contracts were up, the cast banded together to negotiate as a group. They ended up with a deal that paid $75,000 per episode of season three ($1.875 million for the season), $85,000 for season 4 ($2.04 million), $100,000 for season 5 ($2.5 million) and $125,000 in season 6 ($3.125 million). Ahead of season 7 the cast negotiated for a massive raise. They each ended up earning $750,000 per episode in seasons 7 and 8 ($18 million per season). For seasons 9 and 10, each cast member earned $1 million per episode. That works out to $24 million for season 9 and $18 million for season 10. If you total it all up, each cast member of Friends earned around $90 million in base salary alone from the show before backend bonuses and on-going royalties.

Friends Royalties: As part of their 2000 contract negotiations, the cast was able to demand backend points on the show which would allow them to earn royalties off the show's sale into syndication. Up to that point, the only other TV stars who had ownership stakes in shows were Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby. Friends continues to generate north of $1 billion per year in syndication royalties and streaming deals. It has been reported that each cast member in some years can earn $10-20 million in royalties alone.

Real Estate: Lisa Kudrow owns several mansions around the world, most-notably in the Los Angeles area. In 1996 she spent $1.9 million to buy a 6,400 square-foot home in Beverly Hills. In 2001 she spent $2.4 million to buy a second Beverly Hills home, not far from Rodeo drive. In April 2017 she sold a penthouse in Park City, Utah for $3.6 million. It's unclear how much she spent on the home.

Lisa Kudrow Earnings

Friends

$1,000,000/episode

Total Earnings

$1,000,000

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